Sugar we're going down
by Bloodie Ash
Summary: Joanna had been following her older brother and his best friend around for as long as she could remember. So, the night before she was due to start her freshmen year of high school was no different, but this time following her brother leads her down a rabbit hole of supernatural creatures like she's never imagined.


Joanna had been following her older brother and his best friend around for as long as she could remember. So, the night before she was due to start her freshmen year of high school was no different. The Sheriff, Joanna's father, had gotten a call about half a body found out in the Beacon Hills preserve. The sheriff and some of his best deputies were headed out to the woods to look for the other half. Stiles, Joanna's brother, was practically giddy as the pair listened in on their father's side of the conversation.

"Come on." He hissed. The two were on the stairs just waiting for their father to leave. The sheriff left out the front door and his teenage children snuck out through the back door. Their first stop was Scott McCall's house. Scott was Stiles's best friend since forever. Which meant Stiles was comfortable breaking into Scott's second story bedroom window, or at least that was his plan. While he did whatever he was going to do Joanna was content to lean against a nearby tree and watch the street. Scott's neighbors might have been used to Stiles and Joanna, but that didn't mean they'd hesitate to call the sheriff's station if they caught them skulking around in the middle of the night.

Joanna watched as across the street a small blonde crawled out of an upstairs window. Joanna knew it was one of the Crumbvhal twins, but from her vantage point she couldn't tell which one. The Crumbvhal twins were the same age as Joanna and both were small blondes, but that was about where the similarities ended. Valera Crumbvhal was vicious, attacking anyone who came too close to her or her sister. KC Crumbvhal was quiet, observant, more deadly than Valera Joanna was sure.

Other than the blonde who made her way down the side of her house no one moved on the dark street. Stiles gave a shout causing the blonde to whip around. The edges of her red coat caught in the circle of a nearby streetlamp. KC preferred hoodies to coats no matter the season so it was more than likely Valera.

The blonde turned back around and walked quickly beyond the street. Definitely not KC then, KC would have ran. That was something KC was good at, star of the Beacon Hills Middle School track team. Valera was captain of the middle school cheerleading team, which was more of a dance group than an actual cheerleading team. Joanna watched Valera disappear before turning to see what had her brother yelling his fool head off.

Both Scott and Stiles were standing on the McCall's porch by the time Joanna joined them. "What happened?" She demanded, crossing her arms.

"He tried to take my head off." Stiles shouted, gesturing wildly.

"I thought he was someone trying to break in." Scott defended himself.

"He was trying to break in." Joanna clarified. Stiles glared at Joanna's betrayal. Joanna just rolled her eyes. "So, is he coming or not?" She didn't want to spend all night gabbing on Scott's front porch. Besides if they didn't get there soon there was a high chance of the sheriff and his deputies finding the other half of the body.

"I'm coming." Scott sighed. He ducked back inside to put on some shoes and then the three of them made towards Stiles's jeep. It was only Stiles's because he was a year older. After all it had been their mom's jeep and Joanna was the more responsible of the two, but she wasn't driving yet. What sucked more than being booted out of ownership of the jeep because of her age was being relegated to the backseat because she was the sister, not the best friend, who automatically got shot gun privileges without having to call it.

Stiles drove all the way up to the chain declaring the Beacon Hills preserve closed and the three of them piled out of the car. Joanna followed slowly behind Scott and Stiles as Stiles explained what they knew about the body. Joanna was used to trailing behind her brother and his friend since she had no real friends of her own. It had been easier, this last year, with Stiles at the high school and Joanna still at the middle school, but she was still the Sheriff's daughter and all too willing to play a very early season one Veronica Mars. That was three strikes and she was out of luck.

Joanna cursed as a low hanging tree branch tried to snatch the hair right out of her head. She'd zoned out at some point in Scott and Stiles's conversation, too used to the drone of their voices that it could probably be used to lull her to sleep and had forgotten to pay attention to her surroundings. She untangled her hair and looked for Scott and Stiles. They were nowhere to be seen. Joanna strained her ears but couldn't hear them either. Shit! Her father was going to kill her. Well first he was going to kill Stiles, then he was going to find her lost in the woods, and then he was going to kill her. Joanna stomped her foot and growled. Weirdly the sound that emerged was loud, shook Joanna from head to toe, and came from behind her. Joanna whirled around, long brown hair coming back to smack her in the face. Still, it didn't keep her from seeing the massive beast in front of her. It was a bear. It had to be a bear. It was massive, tall as a bear on its hind legs, but not as wide as a bear. Actually, the more Joanna looked at it the more it resembled a brown version of Lupin's werewolf form from _Harry Potter_. But that didn't make any sense. Werewolves weren't real. Joanna's stressed mind was just twisting reality. What she needed was a good night's sleep, not traipsing around looking for half a dead body. But first, how did she deal with bears? You froze didn't you? She knew the answer couldn't be run. To run was to invite chase and that was the last thing Joanna needed.

The bear looked down at Joanna, red eyes filled with too much intelligence and malice for Joanna's liking. Suddenly it lunged. Joanna scrambled back, but that didn't stop the bear from latching onto her shoulder. Joanna screamed. The bear let go of her and took off. Joanna blinked holding her injured shoulder. The hell?

Footsteps and flashlight beams filled Joanna's senses. The deputies and her dad! They must have heard her scream and scared the bear off when they came running to her aid. Joanna had to look to the side so the flashlights wouldn't blind her. For one very confused second he thought she saw a retreating figure in a red coat.

 **~Credits~**

 **Joanna Stilinski ... Troian Bellisario**

 **Valera Crumbvhal ... Sasha Pieterse**

 **Disclaimer: Bloodie Ash does not own Teen Wolf**


End file.
